The House passed legislation Thursday that will restrict the display of the Confederate flag at some federal cemeteries.
The measure was offered by Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., as an amendment to a Department of Veterans Affairs spending bill.
It passed Thursday, 265-159, with support from Republican leadership, although most Republicans voted against it.
If the language becomes law, the Confederate flag would be banned from cemeteries run by the Department of Veterans Affairs, though only on large-scale display on flagpoles.
Families could still place a small Confederate flag on individual graves on Memorial Day and Confederate Memorial Day.
“While I appreciate that today’s vote represents progress, it is shameful that two thirds of the House Republican Caucus voted against this commonsense measure. Why would anyone in Congress – let alone a majority of the governing party – still condone displays of this hateful symbol on our sacred national cemeteries? Symbols like the Confederate battle flag have meaning,” Huffman said in a statement after the measure’s passing.
“I am grateful that a majority of the House agreed today to be at least as forward-looking as Robert E. Lee was in 1869. Let’s continue to move in the direction of reconciliation, unity, and justice.”
A similar amendment was approved in the House last year after the racially charged shooting of black churchgoers in South Carolina, but Republican leaders scrapped the appropriations bill it was tied to after objections. That amendment would have blocked the display and sale of the Confederate flag at national parks.
